"Hey, Izzy, the guys and I are all headed to Vanstock this weekend. Do you wanna go with us? You can bring Nick if you want."

Izzy looked up from her sketchbook. She had been sitting on the hood of the Vista Cruiser, drawing whatever came to mind. She had been doing a lot of that lately, filling up the rest of her old sketchbook in no time.

Since everything happened on Halloween, Izzy had been more distant from the group. She didn't go out with them to eat, she rarely hung out in the basement anymore, she was either in her room, in the driveway, or off with Nick most days.

Speaking of Nick, she had introduced him to her parents the day after Halloween. Red was iffy at first, but as soon as he saw the car parked out front, he wouldn't shut up about it. Kitty instantly warmed up to Nick, loving his charm and his tall, dark, and handsome looks. Eric had only talked to him briefly, in passing while he was going out with Donna.

Which is why Izzy was so shocked when Eric had invited them.

She set her sketchbook down. "Yeah! Yeah, I mean I can ask him."

"Cool. It's like Woodstock, but with a greater emphasis on vans."

Izzy chuckled. "I figured."

"We're all planning on taking Kelso's van up there, so I'll check and see if there's room, but uh... I'd really like it if you two could come. I want to actually meet Nick."

Izzy smiled. "You know, I can just go down there with him instead, if there's not enough room."

"It's Vanstock, Izzy. Not Fancy-Rich-Boy-carstock."

Izzy laughed. "Shut up, doofus. He's got a van, too."

Eric's eyes widened. "Oh, so he's rich rich. Now I get why you're dating him."

"Shut up, doofus!" She repeated. She looked back down at her sketchbook, her cheeks red. "Is, uh," she cleared her throat. "Is Hyde gonna be there?"

"Mhm." Eric went up and sat next to her on the car. "Have you two spoken at all since-"

"No. No, we haven't."

"Why don't you just apologize?"

Izzy sighed. "You think I haven't tried that? I tried to make amends, Eric. I really did. The next day, I made him a whole batch of cookies and special brownies. Nothing."

Eric gasped dramatically. "He loves those cookies!"

"I think if I go in Nick's car it'll work out better. It'll just be easier to avoid him."

"Avoid him?"

Izzy shrugged. "That's what I found works."

"Is that why you only hang out with us when-"

"When he's not there? Yeah."

"Damn."

"Yup."

-

When the time came for the gang to leave for Vanstock, Izzy was already off with Nick. Eric stood outside Kelso's van with Hyde, having just found out that both Laurie and Jackie were tagging along for the trip.

"Hey man, is Izzy coming to this thing?" Hyde asked.

"Uh... yeah."

"Why?"

Eric chuckled. "Because she's my sister?"

"Is that guy coming too?"

"Yeah, Hyde. He is."

Hyde leaned his back against Kelso's van, crossing his arms. "Man, I don't like that guy."

"You've never met him!"

"Yeah, but I've seen him. He's got that dark hair, rich-boy look. Makes me sick."

Eric leaned against the van next to Hyde. "How come you haven't forgiven her yet?"

"I hold grudges, Forman. It's my second nature."

"She made you brownies."

"And cookies, yeah I know."

"So..."

"So... what, Forman?"

"So you should put on your big girl panties and talk to her again." Donna said, turning the corner. "Sorry I was eavesdropping, but you guys are really loud when you talk about secret stuff."

"I'm not just gonna forgive her, okay?"

"So what, she has to beg and plead for your forgiveness? That is so misogynistic! Look, we're gonna have a fun weekend, okay?" Donna put an arm around Eric. "You're not ruining it with your stupid male-chauvinism grudge holding."

Eric snickered. "My girlfriend's so cool."

-

Izzy poked the little device that was sitting on Nick's dashboard. "What is this?"

Nick glanced down. "Oh, that's a pager. If I need to be called into work, they can reach me through that."

"That's so cool." Izzy sat back in her seat. "But I thought it's just an internship."

"Well yeah, they're probably not gonna contact me, it's just for emergencies." He put one hand on her thigh. "I'm really looking forward to finally meeting your friends."

"You've met most of them. Just not Eric and Hyde."

"Yeah, but those are like the two most important ones. Eric's your twin brother, and you never shut up about Hyde." He said with a laugh.

"That is so not true." Izzy mumbled, crossing her arms.

She sank lower into her seat and started watching through the window all the cars they were passing. She thought about how each person out there has their own lives, their own experiences, relationships, thoughts... and she only has her own. For some reason, that really bothered her.

-

"Man, Vanstock." Hyde said, breathing in the dusty air. "It's exactly how I pictured it."

Two girls walked past them, both covered in mud and hugging their arms over their bare chests. "Has anyone seen my top?" One of them asked, looking around. "I lost my top!"

"Actually it's even better than I pictured it."

"Do not take the blue acid!" Some guy said, walking through the crowd with a megaphone. "If you have taken the blue acid, please report to the Red Cross tent!" Right away, several people got up and left their campsite.

"Look at this debauchery. This is the smelly underside of a once great nation!" Fez said. He looked over. "Ooh, yum, candy apples!"

"Hey, guys!" Izzy said, walking up. Her hand was intertwined with Nick's, which Hyde couldn't help but take notice of.

"Hey Izzy!" Eric said. He turned to Nick, holding out his hand. "Hey, man. I'm Eric."

"Nick. Great to finally meet you, man." The two shook hands, and the couple greeted everyone else in the group. Hyde stood off to the side, arms crossed, watching the two of them interact with everyone.

"Where'd you park, Nick?" Donna asked.

"Oh, a little ways away. A buddy of mine found this area on the south end-"

"Oh yeah, we tried to park over there but Kelso's car looked like an old dying man compared to the others." Donna continued to laugh with Izzy about how disgusting Kelso's van was, while Nick headed over to Hyde.

"Hey man, you must be Hyde. I'm Nick." He held out his hand for Hyde to shake, but Hyde just scoffed. "Uh, Izzy's told me a lot about you."

"Oh really? Yeah, 'cause she's told us nothing about you."

Nick sighed and nodded. "Okay." He paused, and saw that he wasn't getting anything out of talking with Hyde. "Good talk." He walked back over to Izzy and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Hey."

She looked up at him. "Where'd you go?"

He ran a hand through his hair. "Nowhere."

-

That night, Izzy was laying in the back of Nick's van. She had turned in early, tired of trying to avoid Hyde all day. So, she walked all the way back to Nick's car and got under the blankets.

She managed to get a few minutes of shut eye, when she was awakened by the van door opening. "Hey, Iz."

She rolled over to look at Nick. "Hey, you're back. Come on in." She scooted over and he sat down next to her, his back up against the wall.

She sat up next to him and he took her hand in his.

"So. How do you like Eric?"

"Uh... He seems cool. Dorky, but cool."

Izzy laughed. "Yep, that's him..."

"And Hyde seems, um, interesting."

"That's one way to put it."

"He seems protective over you."

This took Izzy by surprise. "What?"

"Yeah, whenever I put my arm around you or something, he'd start, like, scowling."

"That's just Hyde. He's always scowling."

"Are you sure? I mean, who knows, with the way he was looking at you maybe he's-" Nick was cut off by a beep from the front of the van. He leaned over and grabbed his pager, reading the message. His eyes widened slowly.

"What?"

"Shit. Izzy, I gotta drive back up to Milwaukee."

Izzy furrowed her eyebrows. "Wait, what? It's the middle of the night."

"I didn't think this was gonna happen... they're bumping me up to research assistant. Oh my god, this is great news."

"So... you're leaving?"

His eyes were trained onto his pager. "Yeah. Yeah, I- I gotta." He looked up at Izzy. "You can get a ride home from your friends, right? I need to leave right now if I want to make it back by morning."

"Oh. O- Okay."

"Aren't you happy for me? This is a huge step, Iz."

"Yeah. I am, I just... you're kinda ditching me here."

He pressed his lips to hers. "I'm sorry. I'll see you when you guys get back, okay?"

Izzy nodded slowly. "Okay. Um... bye, I guess." She slowly opened the door to his van and stepped out, hugging her jacket to herself as she walked in the direction of Kelso's van, the cold biting at her face with every step she took.

-

"Hey, Hyde. How's it going?" Donna asked, sitting opposite Hyde on some log benches.

"Well, uh, I found the top, just lost the girl." He said, holding up a string halter top.

Donna chuckled. "Bummer."

"Yeah. So what're you doing up?"

"Punishing Eric. Knew all about Kelso and Laurie, didn't even tell me."

"What a bastard." Hyde said sarcastically.

"Oh, like you didn't know."

"Course I knew. Everybody knew. You're the only one who didn't know."

"Shut up, Hyde! I'm mad at him."

"Look, you don't rat on your friends. That's just the way it is. Now, I'm layin' traps left and right tryin' to get Kelso caught. But I'm not gonna tell on him. Cause then I'd be a rat. And that's what Forman woulda been if he had told you."

"He still shoulda told me!"

"Give him a break, Donna. I mean, the guy kisses your ass. He does everything for you, and you're not even sleeping with him."

Donna thought for a moment, then chuckled. "Yeah, I guess that's true."

"You're lucky he even talks to you." Donna scoffed at Hyde. "In fact, I woulda dumped you months ago, but I'm old fashioned, so..."

"Okay, Hyde, thanks for the heart to heart." Donna said.

"Eh, get bent."

"Wow, I didn't even say anything yet." The two of them looked up to see Izzy standing in front of them, her jacket wrapped around herself. "Can I sit?" She pointed to the spot next to Donna, who nodded. Izzy sat down, and Hyde scooted further away from them.

"What're you doing over here? I thought you'd be in Makeout Central with Nick by now." Donna laughed.

Izzy sighed and rested her chin in her hand, putting her elbow on her knee. "He left."

"What?" Hyde said.

"Yeah, something came up with his job and he had to dip. I walked all the way back over here and, my god, it was so... pathetic."

Donna rubbed circles on Izzy's back. "Shit, Izzy, I'm sorry."

Izzy sighed and sat upright. "Don't be. Not your fault. He's been wanting this for a while, so... I'm happy for him."

Hyde abruptly stood up and walked away, heading to his sleeping bag no doubt. Izzy bit the inside of her cheek and looked down at her fidgeting hands.

"I feel so guilty, Donna."

"About Hyde?" Izzy nodded. "He's just being moody. It'll pass. Remember when he was upset about Eric and Buddy Morgan?"

"But this has already lasted so much longer than that did. I miss him, Donna, I really do."

Donna sighed and put an arm around Izzy. "It'll be okay."